A Polish bishop is urging his priests to offer acts of reparation after an orgy of homosexual priests ended with a male escort suffering a heart attack from a Viagra overdose.
Police and ambulance services forced entry into the sex party organized by Fr. Tomasz Zmarzły, editor of the Catholic weekly Niedziela Sosnowiecka, after the priest reportedly refused to let them in.
Father Zmarzły, who also serves as a priest at the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in the town of Dąbrowa Górnicza, had invited two other priests and a sex worker to the "bunga bunga" party at his apartment on the night of Aug. 30.
The orgy went awry when the rent boy keeled over from an overdose of erectile dysfunction pills.
One of the priests called an ambulance, but when paramedics arrived, Fr. Zmarzły and another priest refused to open the door of the apartment, which is owned by the Catholic weekly.
As the situation became increasingly tense, paramedics called for the police to intervene.
The emergency services found the male escort lying on the floor unconscious.
He was taken to a hospital, where he later recovered and discharged himself.
Police Probe
Waldemar Łubniewski, the spokesman for the Sosnowiec district prosecutor, said that police have begun an investigation into the failure to assist a person in a situation that poses an immediate threat of loss of life or serious damage to health.
"The local prosecutor's office is conducting proceedings regarding failure to provide assistance to a person whose life is at risk," Deputy District Prosecutor Czesław Kurpiś confirmed. The crime is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The most hatred on the part of my priest colleagues when I got married was from homosexual priests.
In a statement published on the diocesan website, Bp. Grzegorz Kaszak asked his priests "to do penance and celebrate an expiatory Mass to make reparation to the Lord God and to sustain the souls of the faithful who are suffering greatly because of what happened."
Bishop's Rebuke
The bishop's letter, which was read out at all parishes in the
diocese, urged the faithful "to pray and support, as much as you can,
the hurting and ashamed priests" as well as nuns and catechists "who
have done nothing wrong but suffer a lot and find it very difficult."
"I wish to emphasize that moral evil will not be tolerated," Bp. Kaszak announced. "Anyone found guilty will be punished according to canon law, regardless of the verdict of a civil court."
"The world may not understand this, but the Lord Jesus does not want the death of the sinner. So let us pray for the conversion of our brother who has committed a scandalous act," the bishop added.
In each of these cases, the only reaction of the Church authorities is to recommend prayer and to set up another commission.
Father Zmarzły, who was also assisting in the pastoral care of the diocese's Catholic Youth Association, has been stripped of all clerical duties and has been fired from his post as editor of Niedziela Sosnowiecka, as the scandal continues to rock the Catholic bastion of Poland.
Gay Priests' Scandals
While the names of the other priests participating in the orgy have not been released, prominent Catholic priest and journalist Fr. Kazimierz Sowa told Polish media that "this is not the first specifically homosexual scandal in this diocese."
"In each of these cases, the only reaction of the Church authorities is to recommend prayer (never enough) and to set up another commission. As you can see, the effectiveness of such actions is quite limited," Sowa lamented.
In comments to Polish media, former Catholic priest Wojciech Grzesiak said that the rule of mandatory celibacy "provided a good shelter for priests of a lavender orientation."
Grzesiak said that he had never violated his promise of celibacy, but he added that "the most hatred on the part of my priest colleagues when I got married was from homosexual priests."
"And they are shouting the loudest for retaining the discipline of clerical celibacy," he added.
Arson at Basilica
Events took a dramatic turn on Thursday night when a parishioner set fire to the doors of the basilica in Dąbrowa Górnicza.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and police detained a man suspected of starting the fire in protest against the priests' gay orgy.
Father Andrzej Stasiak, presiding at the basilica's Sunday Eucharist, said he "condemned the act committed by Fr. Tomasz Zmarzły." However, he also appealed to people to not "act to intensify the spiral of hatred" and to "overcome evil with good."
Polish media and the diocese of Sosnowiec have refrained from revealing the full name of the priest at the center of the scandal.
Father Zmarzły's photographs have been blurred in newspaper and television reports.
Established in 1901, the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels in Dąbrowa Górnicza was the first church in Poland to receive the title of basilica, which was given by Pope Leo XIII.